Hyper-local grocery delivery service AAGAAR.com, which is run by Asankhya Retail Pvt Ltd, has raised an undisclosed amount in angel funding from a group of investors.
AAGAR plans to use the money to re-structure its portal, augment warehouse infrastructure and improve its delivery setup, as per a press statement. It has started operations in parts of Gurgaon.
"The current round has helped set up and validate the process and infrastructure for AAGAAR's offering. The company now plans to scale to deliver in more locations," said Deepak Saharawat, founder of AAGAAR.
Founded in November 2014, AAGAAR provides fresh and daily essentials like fruits & vegetables, groceries, beverages, personal care, dairy products, etc to consumers at their doorstep.
The angel investment is being made by Saharawat's friends and family for setting up the prototype model. The company is planning to raise a further round of investment to expand operations in Delhi NCR, the statement said.
Saharawat has almost a decade of experience in the retail sector. Prior to establishing this venture, he worked with Shoppers Stop & HyperCITY and e-commerce company Letsbuy.com.
This year the online grocery space has seen quite a lot of investor momentum. Firms such as LocalBanya, Grofers, BigBasket, Zopnow and PepperTap have also raised money this year.
Recently, AskMe.com acquired BestAtLowest.com. Online grocery retailer BigBasket.com, owned and operated by Bangalore-based SuperMarket Grocery Supplies Pvt Ltd, acquired hyperlocal delivery startup Delyver in a cash-and-stock deal.
Not just small startups, but all major horizontal e-commerce players have also been trying to grab a significant portion of this promising market. While Flipkart is expected to start selling groceries from the middle of this year, Snapdeal has tied up with gourmet food retailer Godrej Nature’s Basket to sell about 400 of its products online. Amazon is testing local deliveries with neighbourhood grocers as partners on its marketplace (starting with Bangalore). Recently, Paytm’s parent company One97 Communication launched a new app named Zip to connect users to both offline as well as online grocers.